Contract negotiations from a licensed attorney
Don’t wait to eliminate risk. Employment-contract review for physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants — by James D. Kelso, J.D., LL.M. (Health Law), Board Certified in Health Law. A law office. Not an agency.
Board Certified
Health Law
LL.M.
Health Law & Policy
10,000+
Contracts reviewed
5 days
Typical review
What do you need
Kelso Health Law Firm reviews employment agreements for residents, fellows, established physicians, nurse practitioners (NPs), and physician assistants (PAs). Choose the path that matches your needs.
Residents & Fellows
You are likely seeing a physician employment agreement (PEA) for the first time. Compensation, non-compete, tail, and the exit — before you have leverage in the market.
$595one-time review
Resident / Fellow review
Established physicians
Changing practices, leaving a messy contract, or joining a group — different motives than a first job, same need for a lawyer to review the agreement.
$695one-time review
Established-physician review
NP / PA
Nurse practitioner and physician assistant employment agreements, including prescriptive authority and a delegation agreement. Same rate as Residents & Fellows.
$595one-time review
NP / PA contract review
Independent practice
Solo start-up, adding a physician, multi-member formation, leases, buy/sell agreements, labs and ASCs. This is an inquiry — not a checkout. No payment on this path.
Inquiryno payment here
Ask Kelso Law about formationEstablished physicians
Established physicians have already been employed. Their motives are different from their first Agreement: changing practices, leaving a messy contract, or joining a practice as an employee or owner. They do not outgrow physician contract review — they need it more. The documents look standard until they are not.
The non-compete, tail coverage, clawbacks, partnership track, and buy-in you already signed — or are about to — decide whether the next move is actually possible. This is a law office: Board Certified in Health Law, with an LL.M. in Health Law, and more than 10,000 physician contracts reviewed across nearly every specialty.
We do not sell financial planning, provide estate products, or offer job placement. We practice law. Typical turnaround is five business days. Expedited ($195) allows a two-business-day expedited review window.
The new offer is only half of the issue. The agreement you are terminating still governs notice, bonus, tail, and whether you can work in the same city.
Non-competes, liquidated damages, and clawbacks are easier to unwind before you resign than after a dispute has already started.
The employment agreement and the operating agreement have to be read together if you are buying into a practice. A clean offer letter can still hide an unworkable buy-in.
Residents & Fellows
Residents and fellows are often seeing a physician employment agreement for the first time. The first job sets compensation, the non-compete, tail coverage, and how hard it is to leave — before you have an established patient base or a reputation in the market.
This is a law-office review of that agreement, not a recruiter walking through the agreement. $595 for Residents & Fellows. Typical turnaround is five business days. Expedited - $195 allows for a Two (2) Business Day expedited Review window.
The first physician employment agreement is often the first time the non-compete, tail, and bonus formula falls on you — not the program.
The offer may look like a raise from training.
Many residents and fellows get an offer before training ends, often with a deadline to sign. Standard review takes about five business days. If your deadline is sooner, expedited two-business-day review is available.
It is important to appreciate the difference between offers, compensation and effort/work schedules associated with faculty appointments in academics and private practice. They are different and must be reviewed and negotiated differently.
NP / PA
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants — NP / PA — are being hired into the same systems, on the same templates, with the same restrictive covenants. The agreement often runs the length of a physician employment agreement: compensation, supervision or collaboration, productivity, tail, and a non-compete that can keep a provider from practicing outside of a practice region.
This is a law-office review of that agreement, not a recruiter walking through the agreement. $595 for NP / PA — the same rate as Residents & Fellows. Typical turnaround is five business days. Expedited - $195 allows for a Two (2) Business Day expedited Review window.
The first NP or PA employment agreement is often the first time tail, the non-compete, and a productivity formula falls on you — not the program.
A new offer from a health system or specialty group still has to be read against the one you are leaving: notice, bonus, tail, and whether you can work in the same city.
Who the collaborating or supervising physician is, what happens if they leave, chart-review load, and prescriptive authority belong in the agreement. These should not be based on a verbal discussion.
wRVU or collections formulas written for physicians, unpaid credentialing wait, and a non-compete that follows you out the door.
Why this is not an “agency” review
Many internet services that rank for physician contract review are advising shops — compensation coaches, recruiters, or planners with a contract add-on. Kelso Health Law Firm is a specialized law office. The difference is the license, the certification, and the duty that comes with both.
Jim Kelso is a licensed Texas attorney, Board Certified in Health Law, with an LL.M. in Health Law. The reviewer is the lawyer — not a checklist mill, and not a junior reader.
We do not sell financial planning, insurance, annuities, or job placement. Attorney-client privilege applies. The only work is the legal work.
More than 10,000 physician employment contracts, across nearly every field of health law. Five-day typical turnaround. Expedited - $195 allows for a Two (2) Business Day expedited Review window.
What a review actually covers
The standard review is a conference over the agreement — compensation, restrictive covenants, tail, exit — not a markup for its own sake. If your specialty is listed by MGMA, compensation is benchmarked against national production data. A redline of the physician employment agreement is an optional $195 add-on on either package, with or without the expedited option.
01
Base, bonus, collections, and wRVU formulas — checked against MGMA when the specialty is reported, so the effort required matches the reward.
02
Non-compete, non-solicit, non-interference, non-disparagement: whether you can actually leave, and where you can work after.
03
For-cause versus without-cause, notice, cure periods, and what happens to bonus and tail when the relationship ends.
04
Occurrence versus claims-made, who buys tail, and whether the policy actually covers the work you will do.
05
Call burden, moonlighting rules, CME, vacation, and the clauses that quietly turn a job into an around-the-clock obligation.
06
Partnership track, buy-in, buy-out, and the operating agreement that has to be read with the employment agreement.
07
Clauses that impose a price on leaving — often out of proportion to any actual harm.
08
Outside work, inventions, patient lists, and who owns what you build while you are there.
Our process
01
Residents & Fellows, established physicians, NP / PA, or a practice-formation inquiry. The first three are paid reviews. Formation is a call with Kelso Law — not a checkout.
02
A paid contract review requires the physician employment agreement before payment. Multiple files, 10 MB each. Practice formation does not — tell Kelso Law what you want to build.
03
Reviews: five business days, or two with the expedited option. We walk compensation, termination, the non-compete, and liquidated damages. Formation: Kelso Law quotes the matter.
Flat-fee packages
Typical turnaround is 5 business days. Reviews are paid by Apple Pay or card through Zoho Payments. A redline of the agreement is an optional $195 add-on on any paid review — not bundled or included with the expedited option. Practice formation is an inquiry. The firm does not sell insurance, financial planning, or job placement.
First Agreement
$595one time charge
Next move
$695one time charge
Inquiry only
Custom quote
Same rate as residents
$595one time charge
Expedited - $195 Two (2) Business Day expedited Review window.
Practice formation
Entity agreements, leases, and partner economics are health-law work. Stark, Anti-Kickback, fee-splitting, and corporate practice of medicine sit underneath every “simple” start-up.
Entity choice, employment of yourself, guidance for payer enrollment, and the first lease — sequenced so you are not open before you are legal.
Who owns what, how decisions get made, and how a later dispute is supposed to end.
The agreement you hand a new associate is the same instrument we review from the employee side — compensation, partnership, and exit.
PC, PLLC, and partnership agreements written to corporate-practice and fee-splitting rules.
Leases, build-outs, and equipment notes that do not trap the practice on someone else's timeline.
Practice sales, asset purchases, and the terms that decide whether the deal is actually transferable.
Physician investments in labs, pharmacies, and surgical centers — including Stark, Anti-Kickback, and fee-splitting.
Health law services
Health law consists of federal, state, and local statutory, regulatory, and administrative law. The firm focuses strictly on these issues and designs each agreement to the client’s specific needs. If a matter is outside our practice, we have a network — and we will say so.
What we stand for
We focus on one thing: protecting our clients.
— James D. Kelso, J.D., LL.M. (Health Law)
Kelso Health Law Firm was established to provide the same level of service we have found helpful throughout our own professional development. Many of our clients are entering into business relationships for the first time. Our goal is to take the time so they understand the nuances of the legal relationships forming around the transaction.
We aim to be a resource and a business partner clients can rely on for expert advice — managing legal issues, drafting technical legal solutions, and providing strategic legal planning — so they can make solid, effective, long-term decisions.
Our credentials
J.D., LL.M. (Health Law) · Board Certified, Health Law · Texas Board of Legal Specialization
In 1997 Jim Kelso began practicing health law at an academic medical center — a 900-bed teaching hospital, children’s hospital, Level I trauma center, and fully incorporated faculty practice. He later served as Chief Compliance Officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, with responsibility for billing, HIPAA, research, and conflicts-of-interest compliance.
He holds an LL.M. in Health Law from the University of Houston Law Center’s Health Law & Policy Institute (2000) and has been Board Certified in Health Law since December 2005 — a credential held by a small group of Texas attorneys.
Married to a physician, he has accompanied that transition into practice himself. He has represented individual physicians, existing medical practices, and hospital systems — both sides of the employment agreement. The firm does not sell insurance, annuities, or financial products. We focus strictly on one thing: protecting our clients.
Questions
Don’t wait to eliminate risk
Get a contract review, speak to an attorney, or start the conversation about a standalone practice.